The Pickens sentinel. [volume] (Pickens, S.C.) 1871-1903, 1887-09-01
HE WAS ONCE HANGED.
marvellous Escape of IL Negro From
Death on the Gallows.
(FrOm thc WOrcoStcr TelcgrnmA

| From the Worcester TelCgramO
Yesterday afternoon colored man
was taken i'll on the common, and would
have fallen but for the timely assistance
of two bystanders. The man had been
wandering about the common since
morning, and had been noticed on ac-
count of the peculiar way in which he
carried his head. 1t hung toward his
right shoulder, and he seemed to take
no pains to pull it into tho position in
which people commonly carry their
heads. He was respectfully dressed in
clothes that had evidently not been
made for him, and his boots looked as if
he had walked q considerable distance
When he had been assisted to seat
he tainted, and when he regainod con-
seriousness he clutched at his throat,
tore away his collar and said appealing
ly, "No, No! My God! Not again!" His
him was marked. One of the gentlemen
the colored man had recovered, but the
other remained and questioned him as
soon as he had recovered his composure.
He did not belong in Worcester he
said, and he had never been here before.
He had walked from New Haven, beg
ging shelter and food as he went and
had only got to this city in the early
morning. He had no friends and he
said he was not able to work. The man
seemed weak and tlurried by his faintness
and the humane person who had
remained by his side took him to res
taurant and saw him properly fed. 1t
was in burst of gratitude and conf
dence at being so well treated that the
colored man told q tale so utterly mar
velous as to be utterly unworthy of
credence were it not corroborated by
known fects.
1t was sitting in the common after he
had dined that he said: 81 have had
trouble with my neck and been subject
to fainting spells ever since 1 was hanged
in Arkansas"
The expression was startling enough
to make anyone think tho man was
crazy; but he was circumstantial as to
details of time and place, and it is well
known fact that negro was legally
hanged three years agn in Arkansas for
assault on white woman and afterwards
recovered consciousness.
The case attracted much attention at
the time. AS published the negro was
suspended for 20 minutes after the drop
of the old-fashioned platform gallows
fell and the body was given by the sheriff
to the father of the young man who.
with some friends, was waiting near by
with the wagon. It was tho intention to
t&ke him to tho settlement where he
formerly lived and buy him there. This
settlement was IL miles from the county
scat, at which tho hanging took place,
and was through lonely pieco of coun-
trxy I,n
homo the father of the supposed corpse
and his friends were startled by groans
coming from under the tarpaulin, thrown
over tho supposed dead man, and his
struggles to get from under it. AS soon
as they had recovered from their fright
they went back to the wagon, from
which they had fed, and helped the
legally dead man up, gave him a drink
from the omnipresent jug of whisky and
took him home. Instead of leaving the
settlement at once, tho hanged man
stayed around his old home, and the
supcrstitious colored people demanded
his rearrest and the completion of the
hanging. The case was taken to the
governor, and pending discussion as to
the right of the authorities to take
cOgnizance of the existence of q convict
who had been pronounced legally dead,
the man fled and has been u Randerer
ever since.
The story of the negro coincidcd with
the case as recalled, and there was no
room to doubt that he really was the
Arkansas culprit.
1t was only after repeated urging,
swectened With promises of help to leave
the city in comfort. that he told his
story i'll the dialect of Southern field
hand, somewhat tempered by residence
in the North. DiveSted of its quaint
dialect, his tale is weirdly and perhaps
morbidly interesting.
81 was locked up" he said, "more
than six months, but never thought ]
was going to be hanged until the night
before. Then knew the gallows was
up and [ got scared. They prayed with
me all the time and tried to keep me
from thinking Of it, but / didn't hear what
they prayed about. | was too excited.
L didn't go to sleep all the night before,
and when they came to fetch mo | was
SO weak L couldn't stand up. The
sheriff gavo me drink of whisky and
then tied my elbows behind my back
and took me along. [ know there was
crowds around when L went to the gal
lows, but didn't seem to see 'em. !
heard somebody singing and [ joined in.
Then they pushed me up on the gallows,
and I saw the rope and got scared again
and tried to hang back, but they pushed
me along and made me stand up
straight. 1 recollect their putting the
moose on my neck and drawing 1t up
tight, but L was thinking of whether
they were going to hurt mo and all at
once dropped. 1 had shut my eyes
when they pulled piece of cloth over
my face, but [ opened them then and
tried to get my hands up to tear the
cloth off so L could see; but all at once |
thought some one hit me terrible blow
on the head and / lost my senses. When
L woke up L thought some one was
choking mo and tried to get loose, bnt /
couldn't, Then it seemed as if my head
was bursting and saw awful lights be-
fore my eyes, and my feet and hands
seemed to be so heavy 1 couldn't stir
them. Then great rings of all sorts OF
bright colors began at my eyes and went
further and further off, growing bigger
and fainter until / lost them. NV hood